THE ZooLocist—May, 1876. 4903 
Lesser Blackbacked Gulls calling in the Air.—March 21. Our 
harbours and docks are now full of lesser blackbacked gulls, mostly 
in pairs and perfect summer plumage; indeed the air quite resounds 
with their cries. 
Ring Ouzel, §c.—On the 29th a ring ouzel, blackbird and 
wheatear were brought in from the Eddystone Lighthouse, having 
flown against the lantern during the night, and the light-keepers 
say that birds have, within the last few weeks, literally swarmed 
around the lamp after dark. 
Sandwich Tern.—March 31. A party gull-shooting in the Sound 
(for the last day of the season) came across a flight of Sandwich 
terns, from which they killed one, a magnificent specimen in full 
nuptial dress, with a lovely roseate tint pervading the lower parts. 
No doubt they dropped in on the way to their breeding stations. 
Wheatear.—March 31. A large flight of wheatears arrived on 
the coast to-day, consisting of both males and females. The 
redstarts have not yet left. 
JOHN GATCOMBE. 
Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Devon. 
Notes from Portrush, County Antrim. 
By J. Doueras-OciLpy, Esq. 
THE severe storms which we have lately experienced have been 
singularly unproductive of zoological rarities on this coast. The 
fact of the wind being off shore during the greater part of the time 
may perhaps account for this, since I have found a good many 
waifs washed ashore during the last four days, when the storm had 
gone round to the north and west. Of these, however, only two 
are worth mentioning—namely, a young specimen of the tadpole 
hake (Raniceps trifurcus, Walbaum), measuring only four inches 
and a half, which I picked up dead upon the strand on the 15th of 
March. This is the second example which has come under my 
notice here, the first being recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ (S.S. 4753). 
The curious fact of this fish being generally washed ashore dead 
would seem to prove that it lives at the bottom in very deep water, 
where neither nets nor lines can be used, and where it is perhaps 
not so rare as is supposed. This specimen, although so small, 
agreed in every particular with the description in the third edition 
